Caltrans doesn’t plan to use spike strips to stop wrong-way drivers

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May is Motorcycle Safety Month. Here, a group of riders navigates the freeway in Ontario on Wednesday morning, May 16, at the start of Run For the Wall as they start their approximately 2,600 mile ride to Washington, D.C. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Buletin/SCNG)

Q: Peter Jackson of Moreno Valley asked about wrong-way drivers and offered an idea to discourage them from entering and exiting the freeways. Jackson asked if Caltrans would consider placing tire-puncturing spikes for freeway on-ramps and off-ramps to prevent drivers from going the wrong way on the freeways. He is referring to those tire-puncturing spikes that are used to discourage drivers from entering a parking lot from the exit and will shred vehicle tires if people drive over them the wrong way.

A: Caltrans is working to prevent wrong-way driving but is not planning to use these tire spikes on freeway on-ramps and-off-ramps, said Joy M. Schneider, a spokeswoman for Caltrans District 8. “Since the safety of the motoring public is always our top priority, disabling vehicles in the face of oncoming traffic is simply not a viable solution as it poses many safety risks,” she said.

Schneider noted that wrong-way collisions are rare, accounting for less than one-tenth of one percent of total highway collisions, but they get a lot of attention and publicity because of the circumstances and the high-speed of the vehicles involved.

Caltrans is piloting systems in the Sacramento and San Diego areas that actively identify wrong-way drivers and notify local traffic management centers and the California Highway Patrol when a wrong-way driver gets on the road, Schneider said. Caltrans is also piloting the use of enhanced lighting, striping and signage, she said.

In addition, Caltrans is replacing plastic reflectors with dual-colored ones that reflect red to wrong-way traffic. Schneider said, “These will be placed every 48 feet on every lane and are a new low-cost preventative measure we can do everywhere. Previously these types of reflectors were placed in a single row every half mile. The work will be done over time as crews are out doing maintenance or new pavement work is being done. We are also looking at placing these red reflectors on off-ramps, which may include placing them around the white directional arrows that are painted on the ramps.”

Watch Out for Motorcycles

The month of May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month so we’ll highlight motorcycle safety with some information from the California Highway Patrol and the California Office of Traffic Safety, both of which seek to reduce the number of fatal and injury collisions involving motorcyclists.

CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley said in a press release that drivers need to understand the safety challenges motorcyclists face. Vehicle drivers should look twice for motorcyclists and leave plenty of space between the vehicle and the rider. Drivers and motorcyclists need to stay alert and share the road. Motorcyclists should protect themselves by always wearing safety gear, including a U.S. Department of Transportation-compliant helmet; obeying the speed limit; riding defensively; and riding sober.

California Department of Motor Vehicles data shows there are more than 900,000 registered motorcycles in California and over 1.4 million licensed riders. According to preliminary data from the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, 466 motorcyclists were killed and more than 14,000 motorcyclists were injured in accidents last year. In 2016, 560 motorcyclists were killed and more than 14,400 were injured. Most multi-vehicle motorcycle collisions are caused when other drivers simply did not see the motorcyclist, the CHP said.

The CHP administers the California Motorcyclist Safety Program (CMSP) and strongly encourages all rider – new and experienced – to enroll.

Do you commute to work in the Inland Empire? Spend a lot of time in your vehicle? Have questions about driving, freeways, toll roads or parking? If so, write or call On the Road and we’ll try to answer your questions. Please include your question or issue, name, city of residence, phone number and email address. Write ontheroad@pe.com or call 951-368-9670.

A newspaper, magazine and online journalist in Southern California for three decades, Amy Bentley has written about nearly every topic imaginable, from business and community news to the environment, travel, the justice system, parenting and more. Her writing portfolio can be viewed online at amybentley.contently.com.

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